


Bubble Bounced

by Icypearls



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, F/F, Fluff, pearlmethyst - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 21:11:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9677624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icypearls/pseuds/Icypearls
Summary: Pearl and Amethyst are separated from Garnet and Steven during a mission, and have an important talk.





	

It was difficult, keeping an eye on Steven while still trying to take down the corrupted gem. This one was a bird, and the cold mountaintop covered in ice did nothing to alleviate Pearl’s worrying. The amount of ledges he could fall off of alone made her want to rush him back to the warp pad but—

Pearl ducked just in time, the bird’s sharp talon grazing her hair. “Watch out, P.!” She watched as Amethyst sent her whip slicing through the air, wrapping around the bird’s legs. It squawked, trying to get away, and suddenly Amethyst was jerked from the ground. Pearl and Garnet leapt forward, grabbing Amethyst’s legs. She released the whip, the three of them falling to the ground. The bird freed itself, flying high into the air. Her shoulders slumped, Pearl let her spear dissipate. 

“Uh, guys,” came Steven’s voice from three ledges over. “I think I’m stuck.” In one leap, Garnet was beside him, holding him securely in her arms. He smiled up at her for a second before his eyes widened. “Oh no, the bird is back!” 

It was diving directly toward Pearl and Amethyst, its eyes slits as it focused on its target. It was a split second decision, one that didn’t even register as a debate, and Pearl jumped forward in front of Amethyst. There was yelling and suddenly everything was pink, and then she and Amethyst was flying through the air, over the top of the mountain, sliding on ice patches and bouncing off densely patched snow. Finally they skidded to a halt, the pink bubble vanishing. 

They sat on the snow. Amethyst’s mouth was hanging open as she looked at Pearl. Unable to contain it, Pearl began laughing. She threw herself back onto the snow, shaking her head. She could see the bird, in the distance, flying away from the mountain. 

She heard the snow crunch as Amethyst moved. She was standing over her, looking down at Pearl. Her expression was angry, her eyebrows drawn together and a frown on her face. “What was that?” she yelled, throwing her arms wide. 

The laughter stopped. Pearl blinked up at Amethyst. She stood. “Just trying to bubble the gem Amethyst.”

“Oh come on, Pearl. Don’t be all coy, I know you.” Amethyst crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at Pearl. “What were you thinking?”

Pearl swallowed. “I suppose I wasn’t. Isn’t this a bit of a switch? Normally I’m the one yelling at you for not thinking ahead.”

Amethyst just frowned.

“I didn’t want you to poof again.” Pearl’s voice was quiet. If the wind had been blowing, Amethyst wouldn’t have heard what she said. “Not after last time.” She crossed her arms over her chest now, looking away. 

Amethyst softened. Her arms fell to her sides and she stepped forward, putting one hand on Pearl’s forearm. “Hey P., come on, I bounce back fast, you know that.”

Pearl looked at Amethyst out of the side of her eye before turning and pulling her into a tight hug. “I know.”

Amethyst pulled away from the hug. “So why? Really. That’s the third time this week.” 

Pearl looked to the mountain top, where Garnet and Steven were presumably waiting on them. “We should get back up there before it gets too dark and cold for Steven.” She started walk, fighting the urge to make sure Amethyst was following. A few heavy footfalls let her know shortly after that she was.

“I know from the stories that you used to jump in front of Rose,” Amethyst said. Pearl blushed even as her shoulders tensed. “That you stopped caring about yourself.”

Pearl scoffed. “I never…it took a long time for me to value my existence. Even after I was liberated from Homeworld rule, I thought of myself as just a pearl. We would celebrate, I would answer no one when the other Crystal Gems jokingly asked who my owner was, and…I still didn’t believe it. I owed everything to Rose, I though, so I was more than willing to give it. That slowly changed.” She took a deep breath, her hands clinched together. “Those are instincts that are hard to overcome.”

Amethyst was quiet for a long while, and they had made it nearly halfway up the mountain before either of them spoke again. It was Amethyst who broke the silence. “I still don’t get it. What brought them back?”

“Being at the zoo didn’t help. Being compare to a pumpkin.” She looked over at Amethyst, who was looking up at her. “There are a lot of variables.” 

“Like what?”

Pearl stopped walking. She stood perfectly still, looking at a patch of snow as if it would make the most important decision of her life. Then took a deep breath and looked over to Amethyst. “Did you know,” she said, pushing Amethyst’s hair away from her face, “I like some unpredictability?” Her hand was on Amethyst’s cheek now, and her face was close. “I like danger and excitement.” Her cheeks were blue as she looked into Amethyst’s eyes. “I like you.” She leaned forward, her lips pressing against Amethyst’s for a second before pulling away. Her cheeks were bluer, but she didn’t offer to move, waiting for Amethyst’s reaction.

It took nearly three seconds for Amethyst to move at all. Her hand touched her lips, then her eyes met Pearl’s, and then she leapt forward, giggling, wrapping her arms around the other gem. “You’re a total dork.”

Pearl landed on her butt, her arms wrapping around Amethyst as she giggled. After a second, Amethyst stood, offering her hand to help Pearl up. They began walking up the mountain again, the mood much lighter than it had been before. They were nearly at the top when Amethyst stopped. “Seriously though, I’m not Rose. I don’t want you to do that, okay. You’re too important to just sacrifice yourself like that.”

“I’ll do my best,” Pearl said. She smiled at Amethyst and looked to the top of the mountain. “I wonder if they’re still here.”

Amethyst shrugged, trudging upward again. “I don’t know. The warp isn’t far, anyway.”

Pearl let Amethyst lead the rest of the way, a small smile on her lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, well, this ship is harder to write than I imagined. I love it, but keeping everyone ic was difficult and i'm not sure that i managed it. As always, let me know your thoughts!


End file.
